Getting Started with Code Owners

To set up Code Owners in your repository, you'll need to do the following:

• Set up Vercel's private npm registry to install the necessary packages
• Install and initialize Code Owners in your repository
• Add your repository to your Vercel dashboard

If you've already set up Conformance, you may have already completed some of these steps.

To enable Code Owners for your Enterprise team, you'll need to request access through your Vercel account administrator.

Vercel distributes packages with the @vercel-private scope through our private npm registry, and requires that each user using the package authenticates through a Vercel account.

To use the private npm registry, you'll need to follow the documentation to:

• Set up your local environment – This should be completed by the team owner, but each member of your team will need to log in
• Set up Vercel – This should be completed by the team owner
• Set up Code Owners for use with CI – This should be completed by the team owner

A GitHub App enables Code Owners functionality by adding reviewers and enforcing review checks for merging PRs.

1. Set up the Vercel CLI

   The Code Owners CLI is separate to the Vercel CLI, however it uses the Vercel CLI for authentication.

   Before continuing, please ensure that the Vercel CLI is installed and that you are logged in.

2. Initalizing Code Owners

   If you have an existing CODEOWNERS file in your repository, you can use the CLI to automatically migrate your repository to use Vercel Code Owners. Otherwise, you can skip this step.

   Start by running this command in your repository's root:

   pnpm

   yarn

   npm

   pnpm --package=@vercel-private/code-owners dlx vercel-code-owners init

   yarn dlx only works with Yarn version 2 or newer, for Yarn v1 use the npx command.

   After running, check the installation success by executing:

   pnpm

   yarn

   npm

   pnpm vercel-code-owners

3. Install the GitHub App into a repository

   To install, you must be an organization owner or have the GitHub App Manager permissions.

   1. Go to https://github.com/apps/vercel/installations/new
   2. Choose your organization for the app installation.
   3. Select repositories for the app installation.
   4. Click Install to complete the app installation in the chosen repositories.

4. Define Code Owners files

   After installation, define Code Owners files in your repository. Pull requests with changes in specified directories will automatically have reviewers added.

   Start by adding a .vercel.approvers file in a directory in your repository. List GitHub usernames or team names in the file, each on a new line:

   .vercel.approvers

   @username1
   @org/team1

   Then, run the validate command to check the syntax and merge your changes into your repository:

   pnpm

   yarn

   npm

   pnpm vercel-code-owners validate

5. Test Code Owners on a new pull request

   With the .vercel.approvers file merged into the main branch, test the flow by modifying any file within the same or child directory. Create a pull request as usual, and the system will automatically add one of the listed users as a reviewer.

6. Add the Code Owners check as required

   This step is optional

   By default, GitHub checks are optional and won't block merging. To make the Code Owners check mandatory, go to Settings > Branches > [Edit] > Require status checks to pass before merging in your repository settings.